Naval Station Mayport is a major US Navy base located near Jacksonville in Florida. It is the third-largest naval facility in the US. The Naval Station also includes an airfield known as Admiral David L McDonald Field.

Mayport is a unique naval base with a harbour and a runway handling 34 US Navy ships and Department of Defense (DoD) aircraft.

Naval Station Mayport location and layout

Naval Station Mayport is located near the Port of Jacksonville on the St Johns River in north-east Florida. The naval station lies inside the entrance jetties and towards the west of St Johns Point. The base facilities are spread over an area of 3,409 acres that are easily accessed from inland waterways and the open ocean.

History

The station was commissioned in December 1942. It was reclassified as a naval sea frontier base in 1943. A new naval auxiliary air station (NAAS) was commissioned in April 1944. The naval section base and the NAAS supported the US fleet during the World War II. Both were decommissioned after the war. Mayport again commenced its operations as a naval outlying landing field in June 1948. The base area was increased to 1,680 acres and the runway was extended in mid 1950s.

USS Tarawa (CVS-40) became the first capital ship to use the new carrier basin in October 1952. The base was renamed Naval Auxiliary Air Station in July 1955. The naval station was extended to accommodate more ships, sailors and their families and redesignated as a naval air station in 1988.

The harbour at the naval station has 16 berths located around the turning basin. The facilities can accommodate 34 warships including two aircraft carriers. The turning basin measures approximately 2,000ft×3,000ft. A 500ft-wide entrance channel connects the turning basin with the St Johns River. Berths feature two primary carrier piers known as C1 and C2 and other piers that handle smaller naval ships.

Piers E and F are configured to fulfil the maintenance requirements of the ships. The maintenance and berthing services for ships homeported at the naval station are provided at a floating dry dock located on the north of the St Johns River.

The operational and training headquarters of SH-60B Seahawk LAMPS mk3 are also located at the naval station.

Air facilities

The air operations department manages and controls the airfield at the naval station. The airfield features an 8,000ft runway which accommodates all types of DoD aircraft. The airfield witnesses over 100,000 helicopter and fixed-wing flights a year and military passenger flights from this air terminal transfer 13,000 passengers a year. The department also provides air traffic control services, air terminal and maintenance services, aircraft arresting gear and ground handling services.

Future development

A major expansion is being planned for Naval Station Mayport to house a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier transferred from the Naval Station Norfolk. The East Coast littoral combat ships (LCS) will also be homeported at Mayport in 2016. Two of these ships were initially based at San Diego Naval Base.